Friday, 13 March 1992 Washington, DC
1. U.S. SHOULD ACT SWIFTLY TO HELP REDIRECT SCIENCE IN THE
FSU,
according to a letter delivered today to the President's Science
Advisor, Allan Bromley, along with a detailed list of specific
recommendations aimed at stemming the "brain drain." A group of
120 scientists and engineers generated the recommendations at a
March 3 workshop, convened at the National Academy on very short
notice at Bromley's request. The recommendations include a call
for expanded collaborative research programs with the US, steps
to remove bureaucratic obstacles, and creation of a special fund
to supply journals and books and refurbish laboratories. Hearings
on the Academy workshop's recommendations are already scheduled
by the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee for next Tuesday.
2. THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO REDIRECT U.S. WEAPONS
SCIENTISTS
as well. In Los Alamos on 4 Feb 1992, one speaker
called for a fleet of 1200 powerful new missiles to be made ready
and armed with the world's entire arsenal of nuclear warheads!
And Edward Teller urged development of a superbomb, 10,000 times
more powerful than the 65 megaton monster the Soviets exploded in
1960! Lowell Wood became so excited he could not contain
himself; from the back of the auditorium he shouted "Nukes
forever!" The enemy? A killer comet. One might be discovered
any day, headed for a collision with Earth. Those who had
defended the free world from the evil empire, far from becoming
irrelevant, would now save Earth from cosmic disaster. Congress
directed NASA to conduct workshops on both detection (WN 6 Mar
92) and interception of near-Earth objects. The organizers of
the Los Alamos interception workshop regretted that the press had
been mistakenly barred.
3. QUAYLE SELECTS A LITTLE-KNOWN TRW EXECUTIVE TO REPLACE
TRULY.
President Bush announced the nomination of Daniel
Goldin to head NASA, replacing Richard Truly who was canned last
month. It was in at least one way an ideal choice: Goldin
doesn't even know an astronaut. He is expected to ditch the
shuttle just as soon as possible, and emphasize smaller, cheaper,
robotic missions. His confirmation by the Senate will focus on
whether his appointment is an attempt to transfer control of NASA
to the National Space Council in the White House--which is not
accountable to Congress.
4. PRUDENT WASTE? RESEARCH ON EMF WOULD ONLY WASTE
$10M/YEAR,
whereas doing nothing is wasting about $1B/year.
The devaluation of property near powerlines, construction delays,
out-of-court settlements, and state regulations requiring
development of low-field products, are costly. So a parade of
witnesses supported the Electromagnetic Fields Research and
Public Information Act in hearings by a House Environment
Subcommittee Tuesday. It's hard to argue against more research,
but a few years ago, physicist Bob Adair calculated that
powerline fields would be lost in the noise generated by thermal
charge fluctuations in the body. Good research on EMF effects is
also likely to be lost in the noise.
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